| (Copyright) by David Antion (Pasadena, California) |
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| How did the birth of Christ become celebrated? How did Christmas come to be a major holiday in what is called “Christianity”? There is no doubt that the birth of Jesus Christ is part of the Gospel story. There are complimentary accounts in two of the Gospels – Matthew and Luke. The story of Christ’s birth is both thrilling and interesting. The nativity stories are filled with uplifting and important spiritual understanding. So, why not celebrate Christ’s birthday? This has been a greatly discussed topic in the early times with most of the “early church fathers” coming down on the side of not observing it. As important as the story of Christ’s birth is, it is mentioned in only two of the four gospels. By contrast, the crucifixion is mentioned in all four Gospels. Furthermore, even in Matthew and Luke where the story of Christ’s birth is detailed, there is no further mention of His birth again in either of these Gospels. Now let’s examine some of the histories about how December 25th came to be celebrated as Christ’s birthday. December 25 was a pagan celebration. It had its pre-Christian origins and according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the word for Christmas was in Old English, Cristes Maesse or Mass of Christ. This phrase was first used in 1038 A.D. Furthermore, the Encyclopedia states “Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Church.” Early church fathers such as Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Origen omit Christmas from their lists of church feasts. Origen, disgusted with the birthday celebrations of high Roman officials, commented that “in the Scriptures sinners alone, not saints, celebrate their birthday.” In the third century (200’s A.D.) some theologians in Egypt became curious and tried to find out not only the year but also the day of Christ’s birth. Nearly every month of the year was proposed with several dates. The Gospels themselves are of little or no help in determining the day or month of Christ’s birth. Some have tied it to the Feast of Tabernacles, as did Professor Lightfoot. Some used Zacharius’ order of temple service — being the 8th order — to calculate that Christ’s birth was somewhere between October 2-9. However, it was the “well-known solar feast of Natalis Invicti” (the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun) that is responsible for the December 25th date. It was the birthday of the Sun God. Many hailed it as the day the Sun was born and thus they merely had to change it from the birthday of the sun god to the birthday of the Son of God. Tertullian tried to fight against the adoption of this pagan day of sun worship by stating that Sol was not the Christians’ God. Augustine and even Pope Leo, I bitterly said it was heretical to identify Christ with Sol (Sun). But it was Emperor Constantine, a lifelong pagan, who was baptized on his deathbed, who did the trick. During his reign, Rome’s official religion was sun worship – the cult of Sol Invictus or the Invincible Sun. Unfortunately for him, a growing religious turmoil was gripping Rome. Three centuries after Jesus’ crucifixion, the number of professing Christians multiplied exponentially. Christians and pagans were warring to such proportions that it threatened to tear Rome apart. Constantine decided something had to be done. In 325 A.D. he decided to unify Rome under a single religion – Christianity. Historians marvel at the brilliance with which Constantine converted the sun-worshipping pagans to “Christianity.” By blending pagan symbols, dates, and rituals into the expanding Christian tradition, Constantine created a hybrid religion that was acceptable to both pagans and professing Christians alike. The vestiges of pagan religion in Christian zymology are undeniable. Egyptian sun disks became the halos of Catholic saints. Pictures of Isis nursing her miraculously conceived son, Horus, became the blueprint for modern images of the Virgin Mary nursing baby Jesus. Virtually all elements of the Catholic ritual – the miter, the altar, the doxology, and even the communion – the act of god-eating—were taken directly from earlier pagan mystery religions. The pre-Christian god, Mirthras – called the “Son of God: and the “Light of the World” – was born on December 25. December 25 is also the birthday of Osiris, Adonis, and Dionysus – all pagan deities! A book documenting much of this is titled, 4000 years of Christmas. Originally Christianity honored the 7th day Sabbath – Saturday. But Constantine shifted it to coincide with the pagans’ veneration of the day of the sun. To this day, most churchgoers attend services on Sunday morning with no idea that they are there on account of the pagan sun god’s weekly worship day – Sunday! The average person does not understand nor does he or she care. Our Behavior: In time past, many of us in the Churches of God who understood the pagan origins of Christmas became intolerant of relatives and other people who celebrated Christmas. It became a badge of righteousness to condemn others – their homes, their Christmas trees, their presents, and their music. I remember well how my Aunt (my mother’s sister) sent me a box of Roca candy at Christmas time while I was attending Ambassador college. I felt I had to be a witness and explain “the plain truth” about Christmas. I sent back the candy with a letter explaining much of the information contained in this email article. My aunt was extremely hurt. She didn’t understand. She took it as a personal rejection of her. I talked the situation over with several students who handled their situations differently – they kept the candy and goodies sent to them! A worse result of our actions was this. Many of us became so disgusted with anything to do with Christmas that we transferred that disgust over to Christ’s birth. Thus, the early chapters in Matthew and Luke were to a large degree omitted from sermons and Bible readings in the churches of God. I remember the feelings of not wanting to read the account of Christ’s birth in the gospels of Mathew and Luke. I now realize the tremendous miracle – God’s greatest miracle – “the Word became flesh” and tented among us (John 1:14). Nowadays I seek the richness of the Scriptures regarding the Biblical accounts of Christ’s birth and the many things that accompanied that event. No one knows the exact date of Christ’s birth. Some believe it was in the fall. Dr. Bullinger, in his Companion Bible, theorized that Christ was born in the fall but was conceived on or around December 25th. There is no command in Scripture to observe Christ’s birth or his conception. One of the things I know and believe is that whether or not He was conceived around December 25th, His birth was not on December 25th! I have come to realize that many people who observe the festivities of what is called “Christmas” have a variety of reasons why they do it. Many are not religious but merely celebrate it as a fun national holiday. There are many Jews who join in celebrating a national holiday with some of the decorations, customs, etc. There are also many sincere people who believe they are celebrating the birthday of Christ. Maybe some of them are your own relatives. Many of us in the Churches of God often became upset and harsh to someone who merely wishes us a “merry Christmas.” Somehow, we feel a duty to let this person know we don’t “keep Christmas” or explain the pagan origins of the celebration. Most people neither want to nor are ready to hear about it. A church member I knew in Oklahoma used to reply to a “merry Christmas” comment like this, “You stay sober too, will ya?” Most of us in the Churches of God don’t have a tree, we don’t decorate our homes with “Christmas lights” or put wreaths on our doors or have a Christmas tree in our houses. In short, we do not celebrate Christmas. But we can and should appreciate and understand the wonderful meaning of the birth of Jesus Christ. We should not shrink from showing love, courtesy, and understanding to others who are not enlightened and, therefore, do observe Christmas. We can be, as Jesus said, “…wise as serpents and harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16). It is your personal decision how you handle or deal with people who observe Christmas. Each of us has to decide how to approach mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, sons or daughters, and friends in order to be a light to them and at the same time respect the fact that they either don’t understand or don’t care about the pagan origins of the Christmas celebration. Whatever you do should be done according to your own conscience. Don’t judge others if they handle their relatives differently from you or, as some of my fellow students did, “keep the goodies.” —————————————————————————————————– See David Antion’s other articles at: Antion, David – Church of God, Bismarck (church-of-god-bismarck.org) Reprinted with permission from: Guardian Ministries http://daveantion.com/ —————————————————————————————————– |
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